Pichaw
A sapient race native to Jalupi, the Pichaw are descendants of Catfish with a strong instinct to flee. One of the first two sapient races of their world, Pichaw are members of the Jichaw class and as such have electroreception abilities. However they can also harness this power to stun or kill foes. History Time Before their Time Ages ago on Jalupi, a group of Catfish descendants known as Jichaw emerged. The Jichaw could see the electricity of living things, allowing them to hunt prey out of their line of sight. The Jichaw family spread all across the marshes of Jalupi, and developed into many different species. Among these species of Jichaw were the Blended Jichaw, an omnivore species that could survive a short while on land, As they used their fins to crawl, gradually the fins of the Blended Jichaw became stronger and longer. Some of these Blended Jichaw developed into the Bichaw, a species with four lobed fins and a good sized intellect. Though the BIchaw were a powerful species, competition and predation pushed their species to the brink. To try to push off their extinction, the Bichaw developed the behavior of making long mazes of mud, to keep predators lost and away from their eggs. The Bichaw died out, but not before leaving a new species of Jichaw behind. These Pichaw had a high intellect, and had refined their electroreception not only for detailed communication, but as a weapon. Their fins had become true arms, though very weak ones, and their bodies now blended in with the swamp. They were strong now, though only time would tell if they would last. Of Land and Sea As the Pichaw built their mazes of mud, they learned to make tunnels to hide their eggs in. For a while the Pichaw remained static, until two discovers began to affect them. One, the Pichaw of Sky-Wonder got a good look at a bolt of lightning. The simularity between their powers and the bolt caused them to question their origins, prompting them to research other Jichaw for clues. At the same time the commune of Low-Safe began to make better tunnels and hidden spikes in their mazes, to wound more predators. News of these tools spread to other Pichaw communes, just as a species called the Jeskaw began to interact with the Pichaw communes near Sky-Wonder. Low-Safe and its neighbors, Quick-Swim and Zap-Fist, in particular were interested by the observations of Sky-Wonder, and their theory that good traits of creatures/plants will allow their possessers to survive to make children, while creatures/plants with flawed traits will die off quicker, and will make less children. The children will get the good traits, and evolve. This was tested with small plants, before it was shared with the Jeskaw, who had made some kidnapped Pichaw eggs into translators. The Pichaw and the Jeskaw began to talk more, and the Pichaw began to upgrade their regions. Pichaw communes began to pair off in groups of three communes, starting with Quick-Swim, Zap-Fist, and Low-Safe. Those three became the Tri-Commune known as Great-Mind, as they made many discoveries. These Pichaw learned how to make logs into a tipi-like shape, to shelter eggs from sight, and to make pitfall traps to drive away their cousins the Hachpi. This group also learned that too many close relativies or two small a population will lead to many bad traits later on. Great-Mind would later go on to create a "fleeing style" and to develop stone hammers. Eventually the Pichaw decided to take advantage of the fact that logs float, to better move their eggs.They eventually learned to make a cord from braided grass-leaves, which they used to tie two hollowed out logs together. At the same time the Pichaw learned that some trees produce fire proof sap, which they used to protect their wooden constructs. Sky Fire (to be filled in) Features Biology Pichaw are a member of a class of creatures known as Jichaw, which roughly translates to spark-swimmer. Pichaw itself means visible-spark-swimmer, as they can harness electricity. Doing so will tire them out a little, but their general electroreception ability has no downside. Pichaw communicate solely with their electricity, and communicate through transmitted memories and images. Pichaw also possess sight, but they don't se it as much. The trade off for their advaned brains and electric abilities is that Pichaw have very weak muscles compared to other lifeforms of equal size. A few swings of a stone hammer can tire them out, and as such they can't use many tools. They can easily carry eggs however. Pichaw are about 1.25 meters long, counting their long whip like tail. The tail is used to make a cracking sound, to scare off minor predators. Culture Pichaw have a very passive mindset, which is reflected in their culture. Pichaw never fight or dispute with each other, the closest they have to fights are competing for the right to mate. This is done by having the contestants describe themselves in as much detail as possible, noting al their accomplishments and traits. The canidate with the best traits, at least the one who described themselves best, is the one given mating rights. Because it requires a large mind to do a thorough description, this encouraged Pichaw to develop larger minds. Pichaw prefer to flee to avoid fights, as they are quite fragile. They will fight to protect their eggs, though Puchaw prefer to grab their eggs and run if possible. The Pichaw of Great-Mind have developed a so called "fleeing style" that intends to allow practicers to flee in the best way, and how to fight when it is absolutely necessary. Pichaw won't fight others if they can, which pushes them towards allying rather than conquering. Pichaw have a strong curiousity, prompting them to watch even their predators for research. Pichaw will do detailed experiments in the hopes of learning and understanding a part of their world. Pichaw don't really have a religion, aside from their theory of a Sky Jichaw, who kickstarted their class. They don't invest to much emotions in this however. The Pichaw are allied with the Jeskaw at the moment, though this only amounts to sharing news and ideas. The Jeskaw were the ones to name the verbally mute Pichaw, which in the Jeskaw language means Spark-Swimmer Animal. Technology On page Jiaggaus-236, or Jalupi-23, the Pichaw had developed some technology. They understood natural selection and evolution, and they had learned of the dangers of incest. Pichaw had also developed a way of avoiding danger with practiced moves and skills, like a martial arts style of Earth. Pichaw had by this time begun to build huts of fallen logs, slammed together with stone hammer. These huts were used to store eggs. The hammers were made of a thick stick and an almost cylinder shaped rock slammed together, and would tire out users rapidly. Pichaw also had taken to making mazes of mud at this time, held together with wooden skeltons. Tunnels and spike traps were also common. Another piece of technology they had was understanding of what seeds were, though they didn't actively farm. They also knew how to make stone flakes, though their technique was not perfect. The Pichaw also developed floating egg containers, made from braided grass leaves, and two hollowed out logs. Likewise at this time they also had discovered fire resistant sap, which they protect their wooden structures. Category:Neo-Terra Category:Jalupi Category:Catfish Category:Jichaw Category:Sapient Category:Tribes Category:Electro-speakers